quick question about 10 yr ILR

[Nik84]

Just a quick question,

I am going to apply for ILR under 10 yr lawful residence. Is it better for me to go to the home office in person or do it by post? I've got all the right documents its just one of the conditions - "not being outside uk for longer than 18 months" is not quite met. Was wandering if its better to go to the HO personally and discuss.

Cheers!

[sakura]

Just a quick question,

I am going to apply for ILR under 10 yr lawful residence. Is it better for me to go to the home office in person or do it by post? I've got all the right documents its just one of the conditions - "not being outside uk for longer than 18 months" is not quite met. Was wandering if its better to go to the HO personally and discuss.

Cheers!

Need more details:
1. visa history - details of when you entered
2. types of visas, and when applied for EC
3. when/why you left the UK, for how long, did you visa ever expire whilst out of the UK, etc.

[Nik84]

I have been on a continuous student visa since '97. Was just wandering if its better to go to the HO personally or I can send application by post.

[stedman]

If you were outside the UK for 18 months or over, your application may be refused - it doesn't make a difference whether you make the application in person or by post. You need to show that you had strong ties to the UK during the absence, and I think 6 months is the maximum time allowed outside the UK not 18 months, unless the rules have been changed since I got ILR just over a year ago.

[jes2jes]

If you were outside the UK for 18 months or over, your application may be refused - it doesn't make a difference whether you make the application in person or by post. You need to show that you had strong ties to the UK during the absence, and I think 6 months is the maximum time allowed outside the UK not 18 months, unless the rules have been changed since I got ILR just over a year ago.

For the LR Criteria, absence out of the UK for one single trip is allowed to a maximum of 6 months and a total absence out of the period should not exceed 18 months.
Hope this clarification is okay for you guys.

Now to the OP, How long where you absent for (total absence)? If the absence is just a few days then, your application could be approved by discretion of the CW, if not then you could be refused.

I would suggest you apply by post if it is not straight forward.

[Nik84]

Yeah, my absence is quite a bit over 18 months altogether, but i still wanna give it a try, and will probably go to HO personally so I can have a chat with them

[jes2jes]

Yeah, my absence is quite a bit over 18 months altogether, but i still wanna give it a try, and will probably go to HO personally so I can have a chat with them

Your judgement call mate!

Can you elaborate what you mean by a bit over 18 months if you don't mind? Since a bit can mean different lengths of time span to different people under different circumstances.

[Wanderer]

Yeah, my absence is quite a bit over 18 months altogether, but i still wanna give it a try, and will probably go to HO personally so I can have a chat with them

The people on the desks there are rubber-stampers, they pass the hard ones to the case-workers in the back office, you won't get change to talk to anyone most likely, just bish,bash,bosh, stamp, money visa....

[SYH]

Yeah, my absence is quite a bit over 18 months altogether, but i still wanna give it a try, and will probably go to HO personally so I can have a chat with them

you are not helping us help you with this vagueness
how many days were you absent
and for stays for 3 months or more, how many and of what duration were they and why were you gone during this period
finally i dont see you speaking personally to anyone, they will tell you to go wait and then see its complicated and tell you they will send it to by mail later so you can forget that happening ab initio, maybe after they start delving into it they will want to give you a ring, I doubt it, so that's is why you really should talk to us, give us the facts so we can suggest to you how to present it on your application or if whether to bother

[sakura]

Yeah, my absence is quite a bit over 18 months altogether, but i still wanna give it a try, and will probably go to HO personally so I can have a chat with them

Unless you elaborate, we can only provide guesstimates as to what might happen.
So, again, can you list, in chronological order, your absences? Because - your more than 18 months could be counted in so many ways - were you out of the country for more than 3, 4, 5 months? Did you leave the UK more than once per year, etc? Providing us with more details would help you in the long run, anyway - it might save you £950!

[Nik84]

Alright then guys,

As I was a student from sep '97 I left the country on average 3 times a year with 1 month, 1 month, 2 month absences(summer) until 2005. In 2005 i didnt leave, 2006 left for 4 months overall and in 2007 no absences yet. Altogether about 32 months in 10 year period.

[costa]

My advice is -- to find a well-experienced lawyer to deal with your non-straight forward case.

[SYH]

Alright then guys,

As I was a student from sep '97 I left the country on average 3 times a year with 1 month, 1 month, 2 month absences(summer) until 2005. In 2005 i didnt leave, 2006 left for 4 months overall and in 2007 no absences yet. Altogether about 32 months in 10 year period.

Was your leave active for each time you left and entered the country?
And during those absences, where did you go, you country of origin? or on vacation somewhere for a month?
What kind of accommodation arrangement do you have. Was it always student housing?

[Nik84]

Syh, what do you mean by saying if my leave was active when i left the country? Most of the time I left UK to go to my home country but 2 times i went on 1 week holiday to other countries. From 97 till 2003 I lived in student accomodation, and after that rented.

[SYH]

Syh, what do you mean by saying if my leave was active when i left the country? Most of the time I left UK to go to my home country but 2 times i went on 1 week holiday to other countries. From 97 till 2003 I lived in student accomodation, and after that rented.

It means was your leave in effect when you left and still in effect when you returned. OR did your leave expire and you had to get a new leave to enter. I dont know of any student visas for 10 years

[sakura]

Syh, what do you mean by saying if my leave was active when i left the country? Most of the time I left UK to go to my home country but 2 times i went on 1 week holiday to other countries. From 97 till 2003 I lived in student accomodation, and after that rented.

Did you LTR (student visa) expire whilst you were out of the UK, and did you have to renew/extend it from your home country, any time during the 10 year period?

[SYH]

Syh, what do you mean by saying if my leave was active when i left the country? Most of the time I left UK to go to my home country but 2 times i went on 1 week holiday to other countries. From 97 till 2003 I lived in student accomodation, and after that rented.

Did you LTR (student visa) expire whilst you were out of the UK, and did you have to renew/extend it from your home country, any time during the 10 year period?

Sakura, are you basking in the glory of my sageness, repeating what was left in my wake? Did I not just say what you said above?

[sakura]

Syh, what do you mean by saying if my leave was active when i left the country? Most of the time I left UK to go to my home country but 2 times i went on 1 week holiday to other countries. From 97 till 2003 I lived in student accomodation, and after that rented.

Did you LTR (student visa) expire whilst you were out of the UK, and did you have to renew/extend it from your home country, any time during the 10 year period?

Sakura, are you basking in the glory of my sageness, repeating what was left in my wake? Did I not just say what you said above?

Haha! No, I just wanted to make sure he understood that you are asking about his visa. Otherwise he might reply asking you to further explain what is your question. Basically - just wanted to make sure he got the question the first time round!

[SYH]

Syh, what do you mean by saying if my leave was active when i left the country? Most of the time I left UK to go to my home country but 2 times i went on 1 week holiday to other countries. From 97 till 2003 I lived in student accomodation, and after that rented.

Did you LTR (student visa) expire whilst you were out of the UK, and did you have to renew/extend it from your home country, any time during the 10 year period?

Sakura, are you basking in the glory of my sageness, repeating what was left in my wake? Did I not just say what you said above?

Haha! No, I just wanted to make sure he understood that you are asking about his visa. Otherwise he might reply asking you to further explain what is your question. Basically - just wanted to make sure he got the question the first time round!

Ok sakura, thanks for the help

[Nik84]

My visa never expired before I obtained a new one from Sep 1999 until now. For the period Sep 1997 until Sep 1999 I don't have a passport, its gone missing, I have other documents confirming my studies. Although I am very sure that 97-99 visas never expired before the new one issued. In 2002 I was in my country and I've obtained a three year visa for the period 10/09/02 - 31/10/05 although my previous one was still valid until 30/09/02.

[SYH]

My visa never expired before I obtained a new one from Sep 1999 until now. For the period Sep 1997 until Sep 1999 I don't have a passport, its gone missing, I have other documents confirming my studies. Although I am very sure that 97-99 visas never expired before the new one issued. In 2002 I was in my country and I've obtained a three year visa for the period 10/09/02 - 31/10/05 although my previous one was still valid until 30/09/02.

Well you'd want to be sure about that stuff because the HO is not going to help you make your case. As for applying out of country, did you make it an incountry application even though you were back in whatever country you fail to name.

[sakura]

Take a look here and read about this OP's experience: http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=17005

[SYH]

Take a look here and read about this OP's experience: http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=17005

sakura you are still trying to bask in my wake
You are half the sage I am

[avjones]

This whole thread seems academic. You don't meet the test under the Immigration Rules, not by a long way!

"Long residence in the United Kingdom

276A. For the purposes of paragraphs 276B to 276D:

(a) "continuous residence" means residence in the United Kingdom for an unbroken period, and for these purposes a period shall not be considered to have been broken where an applicant is absent from the United Kingdom for a period of 6 months or less at any one time, provided that the applicant in question has existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return, but shall be considered to have been broken if the applicant:

(i) ..

(ii)..

(iii) ...
(iv)..

(v) has spent a total of more than 18 months absent from the United Kingdom during the period in question. "

So you don't meet (v). Far from having spent less than 18 months away from the UK, you've spent not far off double that. It's not a question of being a few days or even weeks over the limit, where you might hope for some discretion to be exercised.

Applying in person would be a total waste of money. This procedure is designed for those whose applications are straight-forwardly within the Rules. Yours isn't.

You might be very lucky and get a caseworker who grants you the 10 year ILR on the papers. Never say never, but I reckon it's very, very unlikely myself.

[Nik84]

Thats what I thought, thanks for that guys. I am still thinking and got other options, might get a work permit.